You Will Be My Son

When presented with his father's coffin and told that it is French
Oak, Martin de Marseul (Lorànt Deutsch, "The Day of the Crows") smiles
as he notes that the vintner didn't like woody aromas. Paul de Marseul
(Niels Arestrup, "A Prophet," "War Horse") loved wine and took every opportunity
to belittle the child whose mother died in childbirth and who fails to meet
his father's testosterone-fueled standards. With the vineyard's operations
manager, François Amelot (Patrick Chesnais, "The Diving Bell and the
Butterfly"), failing rapidly with cancer, Martin believes he can pick up the
slack, but when Philippe Amelot (Nicolas Bridet, "Regular Lovers") arrives
newly jobless from Copolla's California vineyards, Paul decides "You Will
Be My Son."

Laura:
Cowriter (with Delphine de Vigan)/director Gilles Legrand (producer of "Ridicule,"
"Micmacs") has created a criss-crossing and parallel father son story with
a gruff, larger-than-life performance from the great Arestrup and a highly
satisfying unexpected climactic development that's weakened by the extreme
difference between de Marseul pere and fils. Where Arestrup is strapping,
hirsute and growling, Deutsch is slight, hairless and high pitched and the
unrelenting disdain from father for son becomes outrageous despite the knowledge
that such paternal animosity exists. This is melodrama dialed up to 11.

What keeps us with the film, besides Arestrup and the spiky performance
of Anne Marivin ("Tell No One," "Little White Lies") as his daughter-in-law
Alice is the intriguing four-way configuration of the pair of fathers and
sons. (A third generation comes into play when we hear an amusingly
unsavory story about the demise of Paul's own dad.) While Paul has no
use for his, his right-hand man has been mentoring Martin and doesn't approve
of his own son's cozying up to his boss. Chesnais paints a very sympathetic
character with unknown reserves. Amelot's wife Madeleine (Valérie
Mairesse) is a lion when de Marseul drops by to force medically forbidden
drink and work on her husband, but a lamb when she sniffs out potential riches
for her son. The best sparks fly when de Marseul crosses paths with
Alice, who makes no bones about her utter disregard for him and whom he considers
his son's best asset. Deutsch, who filmography is heavy in animation
voice performances, is just too dweeby to create a rousing interest.

The vineyard environment gives cinematographer Yves Angelo some stunning
backdrops and the dialogue is laced with the kind of outlandish descriptions
of a wine's qualities that some find amusing. There's also this great piece
of advice - make sure your offspring is born in a year of good vintage or
look like a fool every year for the rest of your life.

B-

Robin:
Paul de Marsuel (Niels Arestrup) is the owner of a prestigious chateau
and vineyard and produces some of the best wine in Saint-Emilion, France.
He is despondent, though, that his son, Martin (Lorent Deutsch), is not qualified
to take over his precious business. Paul’s vineyard manager, Francois (Patrick
Chesnais), is dying from pancreatic cancer and Paul takes it upon himself
to summon Francois’s son, Philippe (Nicolas Bridet), to come home. This decision
will have far-reaching effects in “You Will Be My Son.”

Director Giles Legrand brings together what amounts to four father/son
stories set in the sunny clime of wine-producing France. It is, at its heart,
a tale of a father’s disdain of his natural son in favor of the son of another.
Martin, and his wife Alice (Anne Marivin), see that he is the heir apparent
to the throne of Paul’s empire. His hopes are soon dashed, though, when Philippe
returns home from his job as vintner for the Coppola estates to be with Francois.
Paul sees the young man as a kindred spirit with the same tastes and ability
to produce fine wine and, without consulting anyone, appoints Philippe supervisor
of the harvest over Martin.

There will be a struggle for the throne but the results are not what you
quite expect. (The film’s ironic twist hit me just as the filmmakers make
it, showing deftness in both filmmaking and storytelling.) The characters
are all fully drawn but Neils Arestrup’s Paul is such an unrelenting jerk
to his son, with Paul publically humiliating Martin at every chance, you
want him to get his just desserts, but these desserts take too long to happen.
I guess that is a sign that the actor and director make the character hit
just the right buttons in me.

The story is Shakespearean in tone and mood as the elder attempts to thwart
the younger and the younger fights against his father’s maneuverings. There
are struggles on several other levels as Francois’s long time resentment
for Paul comes to the surface. Philippe, too, is complicit in Paul’s plot
by not refusing to fill his mentor’s shoes. I cannot say that “You Will Be
My Son” is a likable film but Legrand does a fine job in telling his story
and, with his actors, develop unique, and not always likable, characters.
I give it a B.